Ramapo Central school officials are backing a proposed state law that would allow districts to collect their own taxes, which officials say could potentially save residents thousands of dollars
Ramapo Central school district attorney Stephen Fromson said under the current system, the town of Ramapo charges taxpayers 1 percent of the tax levy to collect taxes, which amounted to about $900,000 for the 2015-2016 school year. For a Ramapo Central resident with an average school tax bill of about $10,000, this would mean a $100 fee.
Besides Ramapo Central, taxpayers in the East Ramapo and North Rockland districts were charged 1 percent of the tax levy for the collection. In East Ramapo this added up to an estimated $1.2 million for the 2015-16 school year; North Rockland taxpayers were on the hook for an estimated $1.3 million, according to figures compiled by Ramapo Central.
By comparison, the town of Orangetown charges the Nanuet, Nyack and South Orangetown school districts one-eighth of 1 percent of the district’s tax levy for tax collection, according to figures provided by Ramapo Central. Pearl River taxpayers were charged $60,000. The Town of Clarkstown does not charge a fee.
Under current law, school districts can only collect their own taxes if the municipality gives them permission.
But under a proposal that passed both the state Assembly and Senate, the districts could make the decision themselves. The measure, which was sponsored by Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee and Sen. David Carlucci, is under review by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office but hadn’t yet reached his desk.
“If given permission to collect our own taxes, we could do it much less expensively and save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Fromson said.”
Read the Journal News story here.